10 "Firsts" That Changed Video Games Forever

First: Chiller (1986)

Violence is an almost fundamental aspect of most video games, an unavoidable reality encoded into the very DNA of modern gaming, the vast majority of games indulging in depictions of senseless death and destruction. It’s downright undeniable – and while there are plenty of games that actually avoid it – the vast majority embrace blood and gore with open arms, regardless as to whether or not you approve.

With that being said, the relationship between gaming and violence is fairly modern. Prior to 1986, the depiction of graphic gruesomeness in video games was unprecedented – and while the decade would produce some notably bloody games, including Splatterhouse – the first game to get in on the action was Chiller, an arcade game in which players would dismember innocent hostages in numerous torture chambers and dungeons, blasting them to pieces using a light gun peripheral.

Unfortunately, the game itself was a travesty, as well as being a commercial failure. In fact, the backlash against the game was so severe that most arcades refused to purchase the machine, and was only successfully marketed outside the country, meaning it was never particularly profitable.